Twenty Eight Days
by Mindful Demon
Summary: Medea is strolling the corridors of the castle one day in search of something that everyone else seems to think she can go without. Can a growing friendship between a herself and a young housecarl change her ways before it's too late? Medea x Female OC
1. Day One

Medea strode through the halls of the castle like some avenging war goddess. She was looking for something. Or rather someone. Her purpose for doing so was, of course, completely self serving- she refused to do anything that might be perceived as otherwise sheerly on principle. She wasn't looking for anyone in particular. Not searching for a familiar face, or waiting to hear a familiar voice, but instead reaching out with her magical abilities and praying that she would stumble upon someone with a decent level of skill when it came to magic. Not an equal, no; for no one could ever be equal to herself, Medea, daughter of Oskan witchfather and Thirrin Strong-In-The-Arm Lindenshield. No one.

As she continued to prowl through the halls, she found herself dwelling on a subject that had occupied her thoughts far more often than she'd like to admit recently- Loneliness, and what she could do to fix it. She supposed it was completely normal for a human female of her age to feel this overwhelming need for companionship that she was feeling now- but that didn't make it any less irritating or real. The feeling was there, and, as much as she hated to acknowledge it, she knew there was only one way to get rid of it. And so she was searching, searching for someone suitable to keep her company other than her magic and the stones of her icy tower.

She knew that doing so would undoubtedly be difficult, so she had decided to get somewhat of a head start. After all, anyone who was similar to her in the slightest would certainly prefer the icy calm of the night over the buzzing chaos of the day.

Suddenly, Medea's eyes flew wide open in shock and outrage. Someone was in her tower! _Her_ tower! The tower she kept all of her belongings in, the tower she'd spent almost her entire life in! And now they were in her bed! What the hell were they doing in her _bed?_ She stormed back up the spiral staircase, her mind a dark, swirling cloud of murderous rage. To enter her bedroom without permission was one thing- but to have the nerve to climb into her _bed?_ Enough was enough. No one, _No one,_ touched her bed. No one.

She burst through the heavy wooden door, already in the proper mindset to obliterate someone where they stood and intending to do exactly that, when all of a sudden, she stopped. A girl was standing on the far side of her room, her back pressed up against the tower wall and a petrified expression on her face. She looked like a cornered rabbit, which, to some extent, she was.

"Med- Medea- I mean- Oh my god- I- I'm so sorry!" She squeaked, still sporting a deathly pale color and wide eyes.

Medea stood there in silence, scrutinizing the girl with her cold, calculating jet black eyes. It was obvious that the girl was very sorry for what she had done, but was sorry enough? Part of her wanted to pick the intruder up and toss her out of the window. The other half was far too curious to do so.

"You're a servant." She said at last. "What are you doing in my room?"

The girl blinked. "Well ma'am-"

"Call me Medea." She demanded. She had absolutely no patience whatsoever when it came to military titles and names; honorifics were no different. The girl swallowed, so hard that it was actually audible.

"Well Ma'am- I mean, um, Medea, your mother wanted me to tell you that um, your father- No, no, I mean your mother- she-" The servant girl sighed, giving up. She took a deep breath, ready to continue. "Medea, your mother is looking for you."

Medea made an disdainful noise in the back of her throat. "Well, tell my mother that I couldn't care less what she has to say to me. It's the middle of the night and I've things to do." She said dismissively, walking over to the desk by her window and cracking open one of her many books. She ignored the girl, well under the impression that she would go away, but she did not. She stood there, no longer pressed up against the wall, but standing behind Medea and alternating her gaze between the back of Medea's head and the starry night sky. And the sorceress did _not_ appreciate it. At all. Medea stood up, slamming the book shut and whipping around. "And what are you waiting for?" She demanded irritably. The servant flinched.

"Sorry ma'am- Uh, Medea. It's just, I mean, do you really want me to say that to your mother?" The girl inquired a little disbelievingly. Medea frowned. This was _strange._ Normally her anger was enough to scare even the sturdiest housecarl right out of his boots, but here she was, practically arguing with a mere servant. Suddenly the temptation to throw her 'guest' out of the window of her tower was born again. But as tempting as the idea was, she beat it down, willing herself not to.

"Of course." She said, being careful to keep her voice perfectly level. "If I didn't wish for you to say it then why would I waste my breath telling you that you should?"

While the servant girl pondered what she had said, Medea truly looked at her for the first time. She had blond hair, an unusual trait for a citizen of the Icemark, and sparkling aqua eyes. Medea was one of the only people in the kingdom who bothered to make the distinction between blue and aqua- most thought that they were the same, but Medea disagreed. Blue was normal. Blue was boring. If she had a piece of gold for every blue eyed man or woman she'd observed in her sixteen years, she'd be rich enough to build her own castle far away from this wretched place, _and_ bribe Bellorum into stopping his aimless warmongering. But aqua, aqua was different. It was brighter, lively. It had a certain innocence about it, but just the right amount of maturity to make it strangely alluring. Yes, Medea liked the color aqua. A lot.

"I suppose not." The girl concluded at last. "I guess I'll go tell her then." She went to walk away, but Medea stepped in front of her.

"No, wait." She urged. "Tell me, what's your name?"

The girl looked somewhat confused, perhaps even worried to some degree. "Well, my name's Alyssa." She stammered. Medea stepped aside, nodding.

"Alright, you can go."

Alyssa hesitated.

"Am... Am I in trouble or something? Are you going to report me?" She asked shakily. Medea frowned, thinking it over.

"You're just a servant." She stated at last. "Even if I wanted to, who on earth would I report you to?"

The girl named Alyssa blinked, looking flustered. "I'm a housecarl, not a servant!" She corrected proudly, although her face was flushed with embarrassment at the comparison. "Do I _look_ like a servant to you?"

Medea sighed. Damn housecarls and their pride, constantly demanding their stupid explanations...

"Well, if you must know, you look awfully young to be a soldier, never mind a housecarl. And frankly, you're not wearing any armor so you can't blame me for failing to make the jump." Medea said flatly. "Although I'm sorry if I damaged your pride. But seeing as you entered my room without permission, you should just be happy that your pride is the only thing that's been damaged."

The girl seemed satisfied with her explanation, and gave her a small smile as she nodded and walked out. Medea stood at the door for a moment, dumbfounded. Had that girl _smiled _at her? No one, not even her mother, smiled at her. Not ever. Sighing, she pulled her dress up over her head. Wearing only her undergarments, she looked at the nightshirt resting on her bedside table but decided against it. She adjusted the temperature of the room to her liking, then walked over to her bed and lay down with an exultant sigh. Why couldn't it be like this all the time? So peaceful and calm... Her eyes slid shut as she retreated to the back of her mind. She had a lot to think about. But then again, what else was new?


	2. Day Two

When morning came, she was still lying on her bed, staring out the window. The only difference was that now she knew what she was going to do about that strange housecarl she had encountered the night before. She hadn't slept at all last night- but that was no surprise, seeing as she rarely did. She was about to get up and get ready to go down to breakfast when there was a knock on the door. Still in a bit of a stupor from her restless night, she threw on a dress and walked down the spiral staircase to get the door.

"Alyssa! What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded coldly. "What do you want?" She asked, hoping that her obvious bad mood might scare the girl away.

It didn't. Seemingly unbothered by Medea's rudeness, Alyssa smiled. "Well, it's a message from your mother, Queen Thirrin." She announced, and Medea rolled her eyes, although not humorously.

"I know my own mother's first name, thank you very much. I'm not that stupid."

Alyssa grinned nervously, clearing her throat. "Right, well Thirrin says that your response to her summons last night was completely uncalled for, and that you're, well, grounded." She looked thoughtful. "Kind of." She corrected herself.

Medea smirked. "Well you can tell my dearest mother that I don't give a rat's arse about being grounded, seeing as I would much rather remain in my room all day anyway. Be sure to tell her that she's done me a favor, actually." She said triumphantly.

Alyssa cringed.

"She also said that she had a feeling you'd say something along those lines, and to tell you that by 'grounded' she means 'not allowed in your room'."

Medea's eyes widened considerably. _Mother...Expects me to... to be... to be social? But that's... I can't... No way!_

"B-But I can't- I- What?" She asked incredulously, her voice loosing it's edge for a split second as she floundered in shock. Alyssa looked sympathetic.

"That sucks. I'm really sorry, honestly. She says twenty-eight days, that's how long you're grounded for. Sorry Medea." She apologized, and Medea was surprised to find that she actually sounded sincere. "If you get bored or lonely or something, you could come hang out with my friends and I down in the armory and stuff-"

"No, that will not be necessary." Medea snapped with unnecessary venom. She knew all too well that it probably wasn't fair to take out her irritation on the housecarl- but she knew that if she didn't take it out on someone, it would bother her for the rest of the day.

"Uh, alright." Alyssa said, not phased in the slightest by Medea's hostility. "Well if you change your mind you can join us any time that you want."

"I can assure you, I have no desire to 'hang out' with you and your 'friends'. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to elsewhere." She growled. Alyssa smiled, and it was a knowing smile, the kind of smile that made Medea feel very uncomfortable. Made her feel like glass. Then the girl stepped aside, still smiling.

"Yeah, okay. Good luck, see you around."

Medea nodded, walking past her without a word.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"It lives! It lives!" Cerdic yelled, dancing around her in circles as she entered the mess hall. "Aye! The mighty Medea Queen-of-the-bitches Lindenshield has come to join us lowly humans for breakfast!"

Medea scowled, side stepping her younger brother as he attempted to jump on her from behind. She turned around to watch as his arms closed around empty air and he fell to the ground.

"Can it jerk, that's Medea to you!" She corrected, sitting down next to her older sister and heir to the throne, Cressida. There was an uncomfortable silence as they sat there, looking at each other, neither sure what to say.

"So... Uh... What's wrong? You never leave your tower, is everything okay?" Cressida asked at last.

Medea internally cursed. She _really _didn't want to inform her siblings that she'd been temporarily banished from the solitude of her tower- She knew that they would never leave her alone if she did.

"Nothing is wrong, Cressida... Can't a girl leave her own room at least once a year without triggering the apocalypse?" She said smartly, sarcasm ringing clear in her every syllable. Cressida frowned. She knew that if Medea didn't want to talk about something, it was no use trying to make her.

"Right. So, what's up?"

"What a stupid question."

More silence. Finally Medea spoke.

"I have things to do. I'll see you later. Maybe."

She got up and walked away, out the double doors and into the hallway. There she leaned up against the wall, crossing her arms and letting the back of her head hit the wall in frustration. These were going to be the longest four weeks of her life.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The rest of the day went on in a similar fashion. Despite the fact that she _was_ really bored, her pride forbade her to go back to Alyssa after turning her down earlier that morning. And so it was that Medea returned to her room in the castle rather than her room in her tower for the first time in eight years, and was extremely displeased to find a particular bubbly housecarl waiting for her inside.

"Gods! What do you want Alyssa? And why are you in my room?" She half shouted, towering over the other girl. Alyssa waited patiently until Medea was done yelling before she spoke at last.

"So, how was your day? Are you done with those 'important matters' that you had to attend to elsewhere, or have you still got more to do?" The housecarl asked calmly, seemingly unfazed by the outburst. Then, noting Medea's abnormal lack of a witty answer, "Do you want to talk about anything?"

Medea scowled.

"What are you, my therapist? Get lost!" She huffed, sitting down heavily on the edge of her bed. Her blood boiled as Alyssa sat down next to her.

"No, I'm your friend, and I just want to talk. You seem like something's wrong." She prompted, not unkindly. But Medea wouldn't budge.

"Well I don't. I've had a long day, and I have a long night ahead of me. Just leave."

"Not until you promise me that you'll hang out with the housecarls tomorrow."

"I'll do no such thing!" Medea growled.

Alyssa made a pouty face.

"Aw, please? Why not?"

She knew that she was pushing her luck, but she really wanted to get to know the princess. After all, if Medea intended to kill her, wouldn't she have done it by now?

"I'm not going to 'hang out' because I don't want to. Leave me alone." Medea said, her voice a deadly whisper.

"Then I guess I'll be staying." Alyssa said flatly, dead serious. Then her face brightened considerably. "Ooh, I know! We can have a sleepover!" The girl squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. In a rare show of emotion, Medea fell backwards onto her bed, groaning in exasperation.

"Nooo.…" She begged. "Alyssa, what exactly do you want from me? If Sharley put you up to this, I swear to god-"

"Medea! How could you even say something like that? I just wanna have a sleepover! That doesn't mean that I've been hired by your brother to harass you!" Alyssa scolded. Medea sat up.

"Some other night? _Please?_" The word felt strange on her tounge- she didn't like it much. As a matter of fact, she didn't like it at all. But if it would make her one-girl fanclub leave her alone, it was a small price to pay... right?

"Good try Medea, but saying please won't get you out of this one." Alyssa said disapprovingly. "Just promise you'll hang out with us and I swear I'll leave you alone!"

Medea sighed. they both knew that the sorceress could _easily _blow the girl out of the room, through the roof, and down onto the flagstones hundreds of feet below. But she hadn't so far, and in Alyssa's opinion, this was a very good sign.

"If it'll make you leave... Fine, I'll visit with the housecarls tomorrow." She said in defeat. She refused to use the words 'hang out.' They were far to unprofessional for her taste. But then her voice regained it's usual hardness. "Now get out, I have things to do."

Placated, Alyssa smiled and left.


	3. Day Three

The next day came and Alyssa was at Medea's door again, ready to drag her out into a world that she wanted no part in.

"You're eating breakfast with the housecarls today Medea, come on!" She said enthusiastically.

Medea's face was impassive, unreadable.

"Am I?"

Alyssa grabbed the other girl's arm, dragging her out into the hallway and slamming the door before Medea could even begin to protest.

"Oh yes, you are." She confirmed, laughing at the look of sheer outrage on Medea's shocked face.

"Wait a minute, I can't-"

"But you can, and you're about to." Alyssa giggled, pulling the introverted young sorceress over to the housecarls' table in the mess hall and sitting her down.

The buzz of conversation at the table stopped, and all eyes were suddenly on her. Worried murmurs rippled through the ranks of the housecarls.

"Is that... Is that that witch?"

"She's the queen's daughter, right?"

"What's going on?"

"Why's Alyssa with her?"

Alyssa smiled, acting like she couldn't hear the housecarls gossiping like old women.

"Hey guys!" She greeted them, and the anxious muttering stopped. "This is Medea. She'll be eating breakfast with us from now on."

Medea's eyes widened._ From now on?_

"Wait a second, we never agreed-"

Alyssa elbowed her in the ribs, none too lightly. Medea scowled at the girl, a silent threat in her eyes. Alyssa ignored it, continuing as if nothing had happened.

"Anyway, like I said, this is Medea. She'll be eating breakfast with us from now on, so best get to know her now before too much time passes and things get awkward-"

"Things already _are _awkward!" Medea hissed, so that only the girl could hear. "Why did you bring me here? These men and women are soldiers, and I'm-"

"Hey, Medea, eh? Cool name. Mine's Roderick, by the way." A housecarl interrupted her, and she turned to face him with an icy glare.

"I honestly couldn't care less what your name is-" She began, but Alyssa elbowed her viciously under the table again. Medea whipped around to face the girl, who was grinning widely. "What on earth do you think you're doing-" She was cut off abruptly by her own laughter as Alyssa poked her playfully just below her ribs, the only place that she was even remotely ticklish. "Damn it- I- Alyssa!" She gasped between laughing fits as the girl continued to tickle her mercilessly.

Medea shut her eyes, able to concentrate just enough to touch Alyssa's consciousness with her own and mutter a quick hex that she had taught herself when she was younger. Suddenly, although no one had lay a hand on her, Alyssa burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Medea, free from her tickler at last, sat back and watched the effects of her spell with an air of mild amusement. The housecarls began to laugh as they realized what the young sorceress had done to their friend- A tickling hex! Who would have thought that stern, humorless Medea Lindenshield would know such a trick? It seemed ridiculous, but yet they were seeing it's effects with their own eyes.

Finally Medea got up and started to walk away. She was half way to the double doors when a housecarl called after her.

"Wait! Aren't you going to fix her?" He asked, sounding a little worried.

Medea turned around.

"Nah. It'll wear off in an hour or two... Just leave her, it won't do her any harm. And maybe she can burn off some of the carbs from that bucket of cookies she stole from the royal kitchen this morning as well..." She said, a slight smile on her face as she pretended to look thoughtful.

And so it was decided that no one, _no one, _could beat Medea in a tickle fight.

No one.


	4. Day Four

"Sooooo.… Who was that girl you were fooling around with yesterday sis? She a... _friend_ of yours?" Eodred teased, nudging her and winking suggestively.

Medea nearly choked on her mouthful of scrambled eggs, washing them down quickly with her drink to avoid doing so. Once she had stopped coughing, she looked at her brother.

"Don't be ridiculous." She said coldly. "That _girl_ is a housecarl. And a _girl._"

Her brother chuckled.

"Gee, you're getting awfully defensive sis. You sure?"

Medea stared at him. Was he being serious? Did he really think that she was... That she was...

"Of course I'm sure." She said flatly. "She is a _girl._"

He shrugged, noticing the hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Alright, alright. Just wondering." He said, backing off. He could tell that he was really irritating his sister, and that if he wasn't careful she would end up exploding on him like she did with Sharley all the time. "So where is she anyway? Thought you'd be sitting with her today."

Medea almost frowned, but then stopped in horror as she felt _real emotions_ about to surface within her. That was unacceptable. Those who formed attachments were weak. She knew that. She would not allow herself to sink to that level, even if she was beginning to possibly maybe kind of feel a rather small amount of friendship towards Alyssa. Maybe.

"I don't know. Nor do I care. Why should I? I hardly even know her." She said, her voice like ice. Eodred flinched. That was more like the Medea that _he_ knew.

"Right..." He muttered. "Whatever you say."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Despite herself, Medea soon found that her feet had taken her to the section of the castle that the housecarls stayed. What with each housecarl having their own room, it took her quiet a while to find Alyssa's room, but find it she did. She didn't bother knocking, opening the door and clearing her throat to announce her presence. Alyssa didn't answer, and for a split second, Medea allowed herself to feel a twinge of worry. Then she extinguished it again.

It was then that she spotted her, lying in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. She seemed to be asleep, but the entire room had a strange, slow feeling about it. Medea noticed that the housecarl's face was abnormally pale but for her cheeks, which were an unhealthy flushed color. Medea took a step closer, recognizing the signs of fever that she had dealt with during her limited time working in the infirmary. She bent over so that she was level with the girl's face, pressing the back of her hand to Alyssa's forehead to check her temperature. It was exactly as she had first guessed- The girl was burning up.

Medea frowned. How long had the housecarl been like this? And why had no one done anything? Certainly there had to be some rule or regulation against this? She decided that she would look into it later, but for now she had to make sure Alyssa wasn't in any significant danger from the sickness.

Then she stopped. What on earth was she doing? Kindness... She wasn't supposed to be kind. And this emotion she was feeling- she couldn't compare it to anything she had ever felt before, but she didn't like it. The fact that it was an emotion was bad enough. The fact that it was warming her cold heart was even worse. She shook her head. This was ridiculous. She, feeling emotion? It was impossible. She pushed all of her feelings back down, and an air of professional detachment enveloped her. Brushing her long black hair back out of her face with her hands, Medea looked at the sickly housecarl.

_Alright, now what's first? Temperature. Right, I need her temperature._ She reached out with her mind, letting her magic cover the other girl, until she had a close estimate of Alyssa's temperature. _109 degrees? That can't be right, that's ridiculous. A 109 degree fever? She should be dead... _Only then did it occur to her that she hadn't yet checked if the girl was even breathing, or if she had a pulse. She made a few minor adjustments to the magical field surrounding her and breathed out a sigh of relief as she heard the girl's heart beating. _So she's alive. That's good. No use treating a dead patient, now is there? Anyway, what now? _She had to stop and think for a moment. She hadn't done something like this for years- she didn't want to mess up. _Ah, yes. That's right._ She increased the room's temperature, knowing that despite her ridiculously high temperature, Alyssa would still be feeling as if she was at the hub of the world. Now that the proper conditions had been met, she could start her work.

She began to mutter in some ancient language, closing her eyes. First a cooling charm to lessen the fever, then a purge spell to destroy the virus infecting the girl's system. This continued for hours, deep into the hours of the night. At last, she watched as a healthy pinkish tinge returned to the girl's cheeks at last.

"Medea..."

The sorceress stiffened. Was she awake? It wasn't safe for her to be awake at this early stage- she could catch the germ all over again from something in the room... And the stimulants placed in her system to speed up her healing could very easily have a reverse effect if the virus reentered her bloodstream, could cause the virus to progress at a much greater speed... she could die. _No! Not after all that work, there's no way I'm loosing her after that much work!_ Medea thought to herself, her second thought being, _I can't let her breathe this air! What am I going to do, oh god what am I going to do?_

She covered the girl's mouth with one hand, pinching her nose shut with the other and using her magic to cause fresh oxygen to continuously manifest in her lungs. But the girl continued to breathe, and Medea could feel her breath slipping through the tiny cracks in her fingers. It wasn't her nose that was the problem- it was her mouth._ Crap! What now, what now? _

There was only one sure-fire way of blocking air through the mouth that _she_ knew of, but to say it was undesirable would be a grave understatement. She had no desire to put her lips anywhere near Alyssa's, never mind like this. If the girl wasn't unconscious and possibly dying, then maybe-_ What am I thinking? Damn these hormones! _She did not want to kiss Alyssa, period. And that was that. Nothing more, nothing less.

But she had to! If she didn't the girl would die.

Medea mentally slapped herself.

_Snap out of it you idiot. Use your magic, not your mouth!_

And so she did.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

For one of the first times in her life, Medea was actually willing to and trying to sleep. And as luck would have it, she found that she could not. She was trying, but she couldn't get the events of tonight out of her mind. They were causing emotions to rise to the surface that were too strong and real for her to cope with, and she didn't like it one bit. Why had she been so hesitant? She knew that there wouldn't have been any hesitation if it had been a member of her family on that cot, in danger of breathing in a deadly virus... But it had been a female housecarl, and she had hesitated because her mind had kicked into overdrive, instantly turning the situation into something that it was not.

She gave up on sleeping, walking over to her window and sitting down at her desk. She looked up at the sky. The view here wasn't nearly as good as the view from her tower, but it was still beautiful. She loved nights like this, when she would open the window and her mind and just let the crisp winter air fill her room. The harsh gusts of wind didn't bother her in the slightest- in fact, she actually enjoyed the feeling of fresh air on her face. It was as if the wind could wash away all of her problems; let her start over fresh. But she knew that it would do no such thing tonight. There were far to many problems troubling her tonight to be whisked away by the wind.

She was so_ confused. _She simply couldn't make any sense of what had happened earlier that night. Why had she instinctively turned it into something that it was not? Was it possible that some remote corner of her mind had realized what she wanted before even she had, and acted on it? The idea seemed ridiculous, but she knew all too well that it could be possible. And if that was true, what should she do about it? Was this normal? She doubted it. She shut her eyes tightly, frustrated beyond imagination. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated? If she hadn't gone and gotten herself grounded, she wouldn't be in this mess!

Medea opened her eyes, looking at the sky once again. She decided without thinking that she needed to ease her mind, and almost effortlessly she pulled some light down from the stars. She let the light dance over her desk for a few precious moments, illuminating her face with a soft blue light. Concentrating hard, she carefully molded each scale to fit perfectly onto the lithe body forming before her eyes. At last she sat back in her chair to admire her creation, watching as the shining blue snake reared it's head, it's scales reflecting the glow of the moon and sending tiny points of light raining down all over her room as it moved- her own personal sky. In each of the snake's midnight blue scales she could see the light of a thousand stars. It's eyes were like the moon, it's fangs the deadly silver of a million constellations condensed into thin, lethal blades sparkling with venom.

She watched it for a long time, then reached out her hand and let her creature slither up her arm and settle on her shoulders. It was a tiny snake, no longer than her forearm and no thicker than her middle finger. She watched it slide up her arm with an air of great admiration- this was without a doubt one of her most beautiful creations yet. She almost envied it's beauty. Medea decided to keep it, gathering all the dust from the room into one place and molding it into a perfect glass cage. She scooped the snake up into her hands and placed it down gently into the enclosure. She watched it for a while longer before getting up and walking over to her bed with a large yawn. She was exhausted. She lay down, closing her eyes and gratefully accepting the peace and quiet offered to her by a much-needed night of sleep.


	5. Day Five

Medea cursed loudly, blowing her nose for what had to be at LEAST the seventeenth time in the last five minutes. She was miserable. Why hadn't she thought to protect herself when she had been helping Alyssa get over her fever? Now, on top of feeling like an idiot, she was sick and very, very ticked off. She had gone to sleep feeling fine- and woken feeling like she was on the ninth level of her own personal hell. She was about to get up and go downstairs to breakfast when there was a knock on her door.

"Medea, can I come in?" Alyssa asked tentatively. Medea scowled.

"Fine… If you must…" She said in an exasperated manner. "the door's open." Then she heard the door opening, and her eyes suddenly widened. "No wait a second!"

"What is it?"

"You need to promise me something before you come in here."

"… Like what?"

"You need to promise me that you're not going to whip out any of your philosophical crap. You're not my therapist." Medea said bitterly, crossing her arms.

"And what if I don't promise?"

"Then either you'll do the smart thing and stay out of my room, or you'll do the stupid thing and come into my room, at which point I will wipe you off the face of this planet." Medea hissed. She heard Alyssa chuckle on the other side of the door.

"Medea, no need to break out the death threats. It's only 8:00 AM. They're not supposed to come until later tonight, remember? When I'm harassing you at the dinner table? ." The housecarl teased. "I'm not promising you anything, and I'm not giving up until you tell me what's wrong." She stepped into the room, raising her hands in mock surrender. "So I take it you're going to blow me up now?" Alyssa said sarcastically, her tone sounding almost like a challenge.

Medea just glared at the girl, her arms still crossed.

"Not right now." She said at last. "But I swear to the goddess herself, if you start trying to talk to me about my 'problems' or whatever, I will kill you." Then, as an afterthought, "slowly."

Alyssa nodded, smiling, and sat down next to Medea on her bed. "So… If I'm not allowed to talk to you about what's bothering you, then what _am _I allowed to talk to you about?"

"Honestly, I would prefer that you didn't speak at all." Medea said coldly. "but if you must…"

Alyssa seemed to completely ignore Medea's statement. "Well anyway, did you know that Bellorum's back again?"

If Medea was surprised, she certainly didn't show it.

"Whatever. That's of little consequence to me." She said, completely uninterested. "My mother and my beloved brother _Charlemagne_" she spat the name, as if she held no respect for it, "can deal with Bellorum. Perhaps if I get lucky, one of them will die."

Alyssa's eyes widened. "Medea! Don't say such things! That's a horrid thing to wish for!" She scolded, unable to believe that anyone could wish such misfortune upon their own family.

Medea scoffed. "Oh?" She asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow as if in disbelief. "And why ever not? It's not as if any one of them has ever shown care or love towards me, so why should… Why should I show them…. any?" Medea's voice faded towards the end. Alyssa guessed from the way that Medea had stopped speaking that the girl hadn't intended to reveal so much.

"So that's what bothering you." She said, sounding very sure of herself. Then her face softened. "Medea, listen to me. Your family loves you. Sure, they might have a rather… unconventional… way of showing it, but they do. You have to trust me on this."

Suddenly uncharacteristically upset, Medea made a point of looking away from Alyssa, folding her arms across her chest. "You don't know anything about my family." She mumbled, still refusing to look at the housecarl. "They don't give a flying shit about me; they never have, and they never will."

"And why do you think that?" Alyssa asked patiently. Medea whipped around.

"Will you just shut up? You don't know me, you don't know my family, so just shut up!" She shouted, despite her hoarse throat. She was trying to fight back the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes; She didn't know why she was crying, but she was frustrated, and Alyssa was only making things worse. "My mother ignored me, okay? Don't tell me she loves me; I've seen the way she looks at me! She doesn't understand me, and she doesn't care enough to bother trying to!" Medea looked away, shutting her eyes tightly and feeling tears running down her face. _This is disgusting! You're above this, you don't cry! Crying is for the weak! You're supposed to be strong!_ She told herself, trying to regain control of the situation. She wasn't used to feeling like this, she felt so venerable! It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't normal.

Realizing that Medea was crying, Alyssa went to wrap her arms around the girl, but Medea swatted them away.

"Don't touch me!" She snapped, still not looking at the housecarl.

"Medea, I just want to help-"

"Well you're not helping! You're not helping anyone! Just get out! Just get out and leave me alone!" Medea snarled viciously. Alyssa looked at the sorceress sadly, wishing she could offer her some comfort but knowing that Medea was too incensed to appreciate any offered support.

"Okay." Alyssa agreed. "I'm sorry, I won't talk about it anymore. I… So are you coming down to breakfast?"

"No." Medea said, her voice completely void of intonation as she stared at the ground. "No, I don't think that I will."

Alyssa nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Medea sadly before giving a half-hearted smile and walking towards the door. "Okay." She said softly, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Medea nodded, watching the door close with a sinking feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know what to say, what to do… she was completely at a loss. Her face in her hands, she closed her eyes and let the tears flow freely down her face. She let herself sob, trying to concentrate on the tears themselves rather than the twisted knot of emotions fueling them, and soon she had forgotten about her family, about the world; about the confusing feelings that rose to the surface whenever she was in Alyssa's company.

_By the name of the goddess… What is happening to me?_


	6. Day Six

The next morning at breakfast, even Cerdic could tell that something was wrong with Medea. Not the usual, anti-social type of wrong either. It was something different, but no one, not even Oskan could begin to guess the specifics. Medea was quiet and moody as usual, sitting just a few feet away from the rest of her family yet somehow managing to maintain the illusion that there was some grand chasm separating them, but that was normal. She never socialized with anyone, with the rare exception of her father, but she hadn't even spoken to him. Although she normally wouldn't have cared, Cressida couldn't help but notice that Medea kept looking at the housecarls' table as if she was wishing it would spontaneously burst into flames. 

Purely out of concern for the safety of her men, the heir to the throne approached her introverted and vengeful sister.

"So what happened?" she dared to ask. Medea didn't even look up.

"Nothing happened." she responded flatly.

"Do you miss her?"

"Miss who?"

"That girl. You're looking at her a lot."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Medea, don't hurt them." Cressida warned. "I don't know what that girl did to make you upset, but you can't take it out on the housecarls."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Medea demanded. "Who said anything about the housecarls?"

Cressida was silent for a moment.

"You're looking at the housecarls like you want to kill them or something."

"You're insane."

More uncomfortable silence.

"Do you like her or something?"

"What?"

"Do you like that housecarl? You're… you're kind of looking at her funny. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, I was just wondering because-"

"I. Don't. Like. Girls." Medea said, her voice a deadly whisper.

_Yeah, you don't like anything._ Cressida thought to herself, but managed to refrain from saying it out loud. "Medea, if you do, you know it's okay, right? I mean, you might not be sure yet, but sometimes it can be confusing…"

Medea looked horrified. _Oh god! She's actually trying to act like my older sister! Anything but that!_

"Cressida! If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times! I do not like girls! Never have, never will! So shut up!" She huffed, getting up and starting to walk away. Cressida shrugged.

"Okay, okay, just saying…" she trailed off, glancing over at the housecarls' table. "Looks like she's got a boyfriend anyway." She added as an afterthought, watching her younger sister for any type of reaction whatsoever. Medea's step faltered, and she turned around.

"Don't be ridiculous Cressida, there's no way she's…"

"Look," Cressida interrupted, pointing to the housecarls' table, "Right there, see? Near the end." Medea's eyes followed in the direction of Cressida's finger, and sure enough, there was Alyssa, sitting next to a boy with short cropped brown hair. She watched as Alyssa whispered something in his ear and he chuckled, kissing her on the cheek before getting up to get a drink. Alyssa watched him go, smiling.

And although she didn't know why, Medea's blood boiled. She quickly got a hold over herself, before looking back at Cressida.

"Well that's wonderful. I'm happy for her." She said, her voice completely devoid of any intonation.

"No you're not!" Eodred protested, "'cause you're Medea and you're not happy about _anything!_"

"Yeah!" Cerdic agreed, looking thoughtful, "You didn't even get drunk at yuletide last year!"

Cressida looked at him sharply, raising an eyebrow. "And you did?"

Cerdic laughed, trying to look unbothered.

"Who, me? Never!" He said, wishing he knew how to sound convincing.

"Cerdic!" Cressida scolded, her tone of voice somewhere between irritation and disapproval. "You're fourteen years old! Who on earth told you that you could drink?"

"Well you were doing it!" Eodred protested, heroically leaping to his twin brother's aid. Cressida tossed back her head, frustrated.

"I'm eighteen years old and heir to the throne of the Icemark! Of course I was drinking!" She said, starting to raise her voice. Eodred chuckled.

"Oh, trust me, we know you were drinking…"

"Yeah Cress, you're fun when you're drunk!" Cerdic added helpfully. Then he smiled evilly. "Remember that time with the housecarl-"

"On the table-"

"With the-"

"And the-"

Both boys dissolved into hysterical laughter, and Cressida turned a brighter shade of pink than Medea had thought humanly possible.

"Okay, well that was just once, and that was his fault, not mine-" Cressida spluttered, trying to protest, but Eodred cut her off.

"Yes, definitely his fault. He probably possessed your brain or something and _made_ you drag him up onto the table and kiss him in front of five hundred people."

"_And _mom and dad." Cerdic chided happily. 

"Yes, and mom and dad." Eodred agreed.

"Now wait just a minute, it was _widely _acknowledged that we were both drunk at the time-" Cressida began to protest, but Cerdic cut her off.

"Not as I recall it. If I remember correctly, that poor guy was completely sober."

"Now wait just a second! That _poor_ guy? Are you saying I'm a bad kisser?" Cressida fumed.

"Dunno sis, why don't you ask him…"

The sounds of their pointless argument faded to silence as Medea snuck away, over towards the huge double doors of the mess hall. Alyssa had a boyfriend! She didn't know why she found the concept of such a thing so irritating, but she couldn't stand it. She hated seeing Alyssa look at him, she hated seeing Alyssa whisper to him, she hated seeing him kiss her cheek. She hated it, and she _still _didn't know why. She decided to confront Alyssa about it some other time, but for now… For now she would wait, until she knew why she was feeling the way that she was. She had never felt this way before, but she remembered a word that her father had once used when telling off Cressida for teasing her as a child.

"Cressida, stop being so mean to your sister! If you're jealous that you don't have her Gift, just say so." He had said.

Medea blinked. So _that_ was what it was about. She was jealous of Alyssa's boyfriend! But why? Why on earth should she be jealous of him? After all, Alyssa was one serious pain in the ass. She should actually be _happy _that she had managed to scare Alyssa away. She was annoying, and she had been making Medea's life hell… But she was also fun, and perky, and exciting, and really pretty as well… Medea stopped herself. What on earth was she thinking? Alyssa was a girl! Still, now that it had occurred to her, she couldn't get the idea out of her head. Maybe Alyssa was annoying. No, scratch that. Maybe Alyssa was _really_ annoying. But she was still the closest thing that Medea had ever had to a friend, and there was no way in hell that she was going to let some stupid boy steal that from her. No matter how much she denied it, there was a small part of her that acknowledged that she needed Alyssa in her life.

_Perfect timing. _Medea thought to herself, watching as the pair walked through the double doors and out into the hallway. They were happily chatting, and as Medea watched, Alyssa hugged him. Then the girl seemed to notice Medea lurking in the corner, and her smile widened as she skipped over to her.

"Medea! This is my boyfriend, Ryan. Ryan, this is my friend, Medea." She introduced them happily, and the boy named Ryan offered Medea his hand. Medea stared at it coldly until he got the point and let it return to his side, looking nervous.

"Riiiight…" He said awkwardly, not really sure what to think of the strange girl. He didn't know why, but he was getting the strangest feeling that she was viciously jealous of him for some reason. "I'm… You're the queen's daughter, right?"

Medea nodded.

"Yes, that's correct. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Alyssa in private. It's important." She said flatly, grabbing the girl's hand and dragging her into the hallway. Once they were out of earshot, Medea turned around to face Alyssa, her face a mixture of confusion and irritation. "You have a boyfriend? What hole did he crawl out of?" She asked, sounding completely disbelieving.

"I know, isn't it great? We've been together for a few months now, but he's a member of the Fyrd, so I don't get to see him a lot. It's a shame really, but-"

"Why do you like him so much? He seems like a total… a total…" Medea faded into silence as she searched for the right word to describe him, but she could only think of positive characteristics. That only served to incense her further. "He doesn't deserve you; you're better than him." She said at last, unable to think of anything better to say. Alyssa smiled lightheartedly, laughing a little.

"Thanks Medea, but he totally does. I'm glad you're looking out for me though. I really am." She said, still smiling. Medea made a frustrated huffing noise, then decided to change tactics.

"Alyssa, he's a soldier. His job is dangerous. He could die one day, and…"

"Yes, I know." Alyssa cut her off. "But so could I. We're both soldiers. We could both die one day. We both _will_ die one day. So that's why we're making the most of our time together, no matter how short that time might end up being."

Medea was silent. For some reason, those words had struck her like a blow. They were like a slap to the face, a cruel wake up call. Alyssa could die. Alyssa could die, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. Bellorum had returned. He was back, and that meant that by the end of the winter, Alyssa would be shipping out, most likely to the front lines. And while Medea wanted to believe that the housecarl would survive whatever the war threw at her, she knew that the chances of that were slim to none.

"Of course." Medea said tonelessly, feeling something inside her recoil in pain like a wounded animal as the words passed her lips. She didn't understand what she was feeling, because she had never felt it before. "You should. I just…It's just…"

As she stood there staring at Alyssa, lost for words, she felt her extremely logical mind beginning to put two and two together. It was like watching the pieces of a puzzle click into place, forming a picture that took her completely off guard and made her head spin.

_I… Alyssa? But… that means… right? I'm not… I never… but she's… I don't… I can't… another girl? No way… but this is real! That's why I'm jealous, that's why I'm pissed she has a boyfriend… it all makes sense, I just… I can't…_

"Medea? Are you alright?" Alyssa asked, concerned. She had never known the sorceress to back down from an argument before. It was also something about the way that the girl was looking at her; her expression was a mix of confusion… and… could it be possible? Was that… was it fear that she saw in her friend's onyx eyes? If it was, she couldn't begin to imagine what it was doing there. When Medea didn't respond, Alyssa's concern for her only grew. "Medea, what's going on?"

Medea blinked as Alyssa's voice brought her spiraling back to reality. Her mind was still reeling with the aftershock of the truth she had just uncovered, and she felt a jolt of fear pierce her heart like a knife. _What is wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? This can't be normal._ Then, with even more dread, _What will Oskan say?_

"Nothing. Forget I said anything." The cold fear that she had felt before had now settled itself firmly in the pit of her stomach, and she was finding it difficult to control. "I have to go. I'll… talk to you later." She said, struggling to keep her growing dread from creeping into her voice. Without another word, she turned and walked away, moving at a swift pace in the hopes that she could get to her room and sort things out before someone noticed that something was wrong.

Alyssa watched her go, wondering what was really bothering the other girl. Part of her was very much inclined to follow Medea back to her room and try to weasel the truth out of her. But the other half was feeling far more logical, realizing that Medea was in no fit state to talk about her problems. The sorceress hardly ever was; the fact that Alyssa had managed to uncover the truth about the girl's issue with her family had been a minor miracle, and she wasn't expecting a repeat any time soon.

Medea stepped into her room, closing the door quickly and leaning up against it. She shut her eyes, letting the back of her head hit the door and taking a deep breath. She needed to calm down._ It's not as big as you're making it,_ she tried to tell herself, _it's just a little crush. It must be. You've only known her for a few days. You're overreacting. Calm down._

But she couldn't.

There was something about discovering such a new and alien feeling such as love that had left her utterly breathless.

She laughed shortly. It wasn't a happy laugh, it was a nervous one, and she smiled in disbelief, shaking her head as she thought about what her family, no, _anyone,_ would think if they saw her like this. She was a complete mess. She slid down the door into a sitting position.

_What am I going to do? This isn't normal. It can't be. I might not be the spitting image of normalcy, but this is taking it to a whole new level… For the love of the goddess… what would Oskan say? And Cerdic! He'd never let me hear the end of it! _

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. She jumped to her feet, startled. "Who is it?"

"Me. Open the door."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she almost panicked as she realized that her father was on the other side of the door. _Does he know? I can't let him see me like this! _Then the more logical part of her took over her. Although she was alarmed that she could no longer assemble her emotionless mask on at a moment's notice, she decided it didn't matter._ Of course he doesn't know. How could he? And_ _if he notices that something's different, I'll just blame it on being grounded. After all, I have plenty of reasons to be worried and depressed. It's okay, Medea. Calm down. Take a deep breath and open the door._

She did exactly that, taking a deep breath and putting on a false smile as she turned the doorknob and opened the door. "Father! What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound pleasantly surprised. He smiled at her.

"Just checking on you. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, well I've been grounded." She said, hoping to start a conversation that didn't involve all of that 'choice' nonsense that her father had been shoving down her throat since her thirteenth birthday.

He nodded. "Ah, yes. That." He said, looking sympathetic. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to lie. You deserved it. You had no right to speak to your mother like that." He reprimanded.

She sighed. "Yes, I know." She said, trying not to gag on the very thought of admitting she was wrong.

"So may I come in?"

She blinked. "Yes, of course. Come in, sit." She said, sitting down on her bed. He sat down next to her, glancing over at the star-snake that she had created sleeping in it's cage.

"Did you make that, Medea?" he asked, and she could hear a tense note in his voice. She realized that he was probably recalling the last time that he had seen one of her creations. She remembered it quite clearly as well. He had created a mouse, and she a snake. Thinking that her father would be impressed by her ability to control what she had created, she had made the snake lash out, killing the mouse. But he had been far from impressed. If anything, he had been angry, immediately destroying the snake and berating her for her lack of control. And as he had turned to leave, she had voiced her thoughts:

"_But I did control it, father. I controlled it perfectly."_

The words had sent a chill down his spine.

"Yes, I did." She informed him, looking over at the snake.

"And you've been maintaining it for all this time?"

"Yes."

"That's very good, Medea. That must take a lot of concentration."

She snorted. "It's hardly as if I've got much else to do around this godforsaken place." She said pointedly.

Silence.

"Of course." He said at last. He couldn't quite put his finger on It, but he had a feeling that his daughter was hiding something from him. There was a wall between their minds, a barrier that had been weakly constructed at the last minute in order to keep him from reading her thoughts. He wondered what his daughter could possibly be thinking that would merit such defenses. Rather than knock down the wall, which he could easily have done, he decided to ask her about it. He doubted that he would get an honest answer out of her- he rarely did- but it was still worth a try. "Is something wrong?"

She visibly tensed. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." She replied, not meeting his gaze.

He frowned. "Medea. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

He felt the wall around her thoughts rebuild itself and grow stronger as he attempted to discreetly break it down.

"If you're not lying, then why aren't you letting me read your thoughts?"

Medea put on her best scowl, trying to act frustrated. "Because it's _creepy_." He looked unconvinced, so she began to desperately improvise. "And I'm a teenage girl. It's hardly as if you could even begin to process, never mind _understand_ what's going on in my head."

He shrugged, defeated. "Fine. But if you ever want to talk about anything, then I'm here. Remember that."

He got up, walking out. She followed him to the doorway, shutting the door behind him. Then she walked back over to her bed, lying down. The wall around her thoughts dropped, and she felt her conflicting emotions come rushing back.

_If only you knew, father. If only you knew._


End file.
